A good night was had by all.

Chris & Yasmin take top prize for "The Snowman" video

I left for London early yesterday morning with three key events planned; meetings at the BBC, drinks at Leicester Square and The Book Video Awards at Foyle’s on Charing Cross. It’s been a quite a while since I’ve been rushing around the city like the road runner, exhaustion kept at bay with good company and great wine!

Arriving at the BBC I was greeted like a long lost friend and once the work was completed I was treated to watching two live sessions and a recording of “The No 1. Detective Agency”. I need to find out who the Rock/Blues group were (recording a session for the Paul Jones blues programme) but there was no mistaking Eliza Doolittle! I missed Sheryl Crow by one day – gutted!

Leaving the BBC in the early evening I made my way to Leicester Square to have drinks with Anne and Kerry from Hodder & Stoughton. I have no idea where the time went but the conversation’s flow and quality was effortlessly matched by the bottle of classy Viognier!

After bidding Anne and Kerry goodnight I headed up to Charing Cross for the awards ceremony at Foyle’s. Foyle’s wasn’t at all what I expected. Lovely building set on three floors, Foyle’s has a certain charm about it, a mixture of old and new with plenty of character.

The Book Video Awards, created as a result of a competition sponsored by Random House and The Bookseller magazine, was held last night in The Gallery.

The four videos (all winners in their own right) were competing for the overall top prize – the winner winner chicken dinner! After reviewing Jo Nesbo’s “The Snowman” last week I went in to the evening slightly biased – I did want the video to win! To be fair, the students did a great job and the four were worthy winners.

At the end of the day there could be only one winner and with a classy, atmospheric video that captured the heart of the book, “The Snowman” won. Shot by Chris Moon and Yasmin al Naib the pair were delighted to take the top prize.

The winning video:

The one thing that irks me about videos promoting feature films or books is that they give far too much away; the plot is there for all to see. I can’t tell you how often I look to the floor in a cinema, keen to avoid the inevitable spoilers. With that in mind, I thought all four videos did a grand job, each one encapsulating the true essence of the books. So a well done to all concerned.

It was also announced that Chris and Yasmin have been commissioned to shoot Jo Nesbo’s next promotional video. Great praise indeed, well done to the both of them – the future looks bright.

Not the sort of thing you’d usually shout about but this is a classic! Looks like nothing can halt Freddie Flintoff from reaching the big game, not even two Aussie pranksters swapping his car for a dreaded pedalo.

Check out the video now then head over to eBay to bid on the actual pedalo Fred uses. We’re auctioning it off for charity, with every penny of the proceeds going to the Andrew Flintoff Foundation – a charity that helps fund physio wings in kids’ hospitals around the UK. So bid now and bid well.